The Gershwin-Ravel Connection

When George Gershwin met Maurice Ravel in New York in 1928, he asked about studying with the French composer.

Ravel reportedly replied, 'Why would you want to be a second-rate Ravel when you can be a first-rate Gershwin?'

The story may be apocryphal, but after Ravel's American tour and Gershwin’s visit to Paris, the two did form a mutual admiration society. Gershwin was drawn to French music, just as Ravel was drawn to American jazz—and Gershwin’s mid-1920s works, Rhapsody in Blue and the Piano Concerto in F.

In this hour, the fascinating links between these two composers, and their music.